THE Philippine national Under-23 team tried hard but still succumbed to a 1-0 setback to host Singapore late Monday in the opening of Group A football competition in the 28th Southeast Asian Games at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore.
Defender Sheikh Abdul Hadi Othman of the host Lions scored in the 44th minute from a free kick on the right by teammate Mohammad Faris Ramli that avoided a scoreless opening game.
Not even the noisy Filipino fans could give the young Pinoy booters a crack against the tight defense of the Singaporeans.
The Filipinos absorbed their first loss in the five-team bracket.
“The boys were very tight in the first half. We had ball possession but without purpose,” noted head coach Marlon Maro at the post-match press conference. “In the Southeast Asian Games, we talk about winning a match and tonight, we lost three points (for a victory).”
Singapore coach Aide Iskander stressed that the three-point margin was more important, adding that “it is never easy to play against a team that defends most of the time, although they (the Filipinos) had fair chances as well.”
“Medyo bilib ako sa depensa natin, magaling naman yong mga bata,” said Philippine Sports Commission’s Richie Garcia, who promised to watch the PH squad’s second game against Cambodia tomorrow.
